Hanno Aleksanteri Möttölä (born 9 September 1976) is a Finnish basketball coach and a former professional basketball player. He is currently working as an assistant coach of Finland national team. A power forward, Möttölä played for the Atlanta Hawks in the National Basketball Association (NBA), becoming the first player from Finland to play in the NBA.

Hanno Möttölä
Möttölä in 2009.
Finland
PositionAssistant coach
Personal information
Born (1976-09-09) 9 September 1976 (age 48)
Helsinki, Finland
Listed height6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Listed weight250 lb (113 kg)
Career information
CollegeUtah (1996–2000)
NBA draft2000: 2nd round, 40th overall pick
Selected by the Atlanta Hawks
Playing career1994–2014
PositionPower forward
Number13
Career history
As player:
1994-1996Helsingin NMKY
20002002Atlanta Hawks
2002–2003TAU Cerámica
2003–2004Skipper Bologna
2004–2005Scavolini Pesaro
2005–2006Dynamo Moscow
2006–2007Žalgiris Kaunas
2007–2008Aris Thessaloniki
2009–2012Torpan Pojat
2013Torpan Pojat
As coach:
2014–2024HBA-Märsky
2019–presentFinland (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Möttölä playing for Finland in 2008

Möttölä was named in the Utah Athletics Hall of Fame of the University of Utah in September 2023.[1]

College career

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Möttölä attended the University of Utah, in the United States, where he played college basketball under head coach Rick Majerus. He was a starter on the Utah Utes team that played in the final of the 1998 NCAA national championship tournament, which they lost to Kentucky.

Professional career

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After college, Möttölä was selected in the second round, with the 40th overall pick, in the 2000 NBA draft, by the Atlanta Hawks. He played two seasons in the NBA with the Hawks. He played in all 82 games during his sophomore (and final) season. His final NBA game was on April 17, 2002, in a 81–89 loss to the Boston Celtics where he recorded 1 steal and 2 rebounds.

After his time with the Hawks, he returned to Europe to play in the EuroLeague. He played in Spain with TAU Cerámica of the Liga ACB, where he suffered an ankle injury. Then he played in Italy with Skipper Bologna (in the 2003–04 season, his team reached the Italian League finals and EuroLeague Final). He also played in Italy with Scavolini Pesaro (from 2004 to 2005).

Möttölä also played in the Russian Super League with Dynamo Moscow, in the Lithuanian LKL League with Žalgiris Kaunas, and in the Greek Basket League (GBL) with Aris, after signing with the team on 26 July 2007.[2]

Möttölä announced his retirement from playing basketball on 26 September 2008,[3] but decided to return to basketball just nine months later.[4] In September 2009, Möttölä signed with the Finnish team Torpan Pojat. He played in the team for four seasons, during which the team was the runner-up in the Finnish League championship (2009–10), in the Finnish Cup (2010–11), and finished in third-place in Finnish League (2011–12).[5]

International career

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Möttölä at the EuroBasket 2017

Möttölä was a long-time member of the senior Finnish national basketball team. With Finland, he played at the 1995 EuroBasket, the 2011 EuroBasket, the 2013 EuroBasket, and the 2014 FIBA World Cup.[6]

Coaching career

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After ending his playing career, Möttölä has worked as the head coach of Helsinki Basketball Academy team HBA-Märsky in second-tier Koripallon I-divisioona, and an assistant coach of Finland national team since 2019.

In May 2024, Möttölä was invited to coach at NBA G League Elite Camp and at the 2024 NBA draft combine event.[7][8]

Personal life

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Finnish ice hockey players, Jarkko Ruutu and Tuomo Ruutu, are Möttölä's second cousins.[9]

Career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2000-01 Atlanta 72 3 13.5 .444 .000 .811 2.4 .3 .2 .1 4.5
2001-02 Atlanta 82 14 16.7 .440 .077 .750 3.3 .6 .2 .2 4.8
Career 154 17 15.2 .442 .063 .783 2.9 .5 .2 .2 4.6

EuroLeague

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2002–03 TAU Cerámica 7 3 30.4 .569 .444 .774 3.4 1.0 .7 .3 15.1 13.6
2003–04 Skipper Bologna 22 16 21.8 .520 .348 .879 3.8 .4 .8 .4 10.8 9.2
2004–05 Scavolini Pesaro 22 16 28.6 .497 .375 .833 5.1 .9 1.0 .5 13.7 12.2
2006–07 Žalgiris 12 5 22.6 .547 .500 .806 3.9 1.3 .5 .5 10.9 9.8
2007–08 Aris 20 16 19.7 .488 .459 .824 2.8 .7 .4 .1 8.0 6.0
Career 83 56 23.9 .516 .406 .833 3.9 .8 .7 .3 11.3 9.7

EuroCup

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Denotes season in which Möttölä won the EuroCup
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2005–06 Dynamo Moscow 14 4 16.54 .397 .444 .167 3.0 .5 .7 .6 6.4 4.2

College

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1996–97 Utah 32 1 17.5 .586 .000 .623 2.8 .9 .3 .3 6.4
1997–98 Utah 34 34 28.2 .489 .291 .754 5.3 .8 .4 .5 12.5
1998–99 Utah 33 33 31.0 .482 .354 .833 5.4 1.4 .4 .4 15.3
1999–00 Utah 21 19 27.6 .498 .350 .827 4.8 1.7 .2 .6 17.0
Career 120 87 26.0 .500 .333 .774 4.6 1.2 .3 .4 12.4

National team

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Team Tournament Pos. GP PPG RPG APG
Finland EuroBasket 1995 13th
6
4.2
4.2
0.5
EuroBasket 2011 9th
5
6.0
1.2
0.0
EuroBasket 2013 9th
5
6.2
1.8
0.4
2014 FIBA World Cup 22nd
4
2.8
0.5
0.0

References

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  1. ^ Namikakasvatti Hanno Möttölä valittiin Utahin yliopiston Hall of Fameen, hnmky.fi, 27 September 2023
  2. ^ Sotirou, Kostas (2007). "Aris inks big men Mottola and Agadakos". Euroleague. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  3. ^ "Hanno Mottola of Finland retires". Inside Hoops. Archived from the original on 13 February 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  4. ^ Martinez, Frans (2009). "Hanno Mottola vuelve a las canchas". Solo Basket (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  5. ^ "Hanno Möttölä vahvistaa ToPoa Divisioona A:n kärjessä". Basket.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  6. ^ Hanno MÖTTÖLÄ (FIN).
  7. ^ Hanno Möttölä valmentajaksi NBA:n Draft Combine -leirille, Itä-Häme, 10 May 2024
  8. ^ Hanno Möttölä valmentajaksi NBA Draft Combine -leirille, basket.fi, 10 May 2024
  9. ^ Tuomo Ruutu; ihanfinaalissa.fi (in Finnish) Archived 2010-02-10 at the Wayback Machine
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  NODES
Done 1
games 3
Story 1